Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 02:32:55 -0400 From: "Brett G. Castleberry" <bcc9746@garnet.acns.fsu.edu> To: <dan.langille@dvl-software.com>, "Herbert M Pollard" <hpollard@jps.net> Cc: <freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: FreeBSD Newbies First Aid Kit Message-ID: <001f01beb62f$bea8bc40$f923c992@s1o3q0> References: <199906131957.OAA24852@metis.host4u.net>
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Dear Newbies,
As a fellow complainer ( a couple of months ago) I feel that I need to
second Mr. Langille's comments. It is a steep learning curve, but the
FreeBSD folks have put a lot of work into providing documentation that will
answer your questions.
I could be wrong, but I sense a kind of generational gap between
posters to Unix and Linux newsgroups. I am trying out both Linux and
FreeBSD (I just got my CDs for FreeBSD 3.2 this weekend). I have installed
Red Hat Linux 6.0 in a partition on my primary machine. A post to the local
Florida State University Linux newsgroup about problems with my
installation got me quick, specific answers from another user, also new (not
as new as me) but eager to share his new-found knowledge, the way students
share knowledge among themselves regarding a class assignment, like we're
all little eager Linux puppies sharing discoveries with each other. I am a
45 year old graduate student, but all the other Linux users I have met are
20-somethings.
With FreeBSD, I feel like I'm talking to professors. If I ask a
professor about something, she (or he) will want to know whether I have done
the reading first. If not, she's got no time for me. I bought a used 486
to install FreeBSD on that had a Toshiba cdrom device. I didn't find it on
the hardware list in the manual, but I did find it in a doc called "Jordan's
Picks". So check out all the links at FreeBSD.org as well as FreeBSD Diary,
an excellent supplement to the main site. A lot of these guys are
greybeards, and when they start talking about the history of unix on
"questions", perk up your ears. Read the online manual, get yourself a copy
of "The Complete FreeBSD" by Greg Lehey, as well as a copy of "Newton's
Telecom Dictionary" if you are really new to the field, as I am. If you ask
a question and are referred to a document or a man page, go read it. It
might not be the easy answer, but you'll become expert this way.
I was browsing the shelves at our local Barnes & Noble bookstore
recently,when a young man asked me if I could recommend a book about Linux.
He worked at a small computer shop in Georgia, and had driven down to
Tallahassee to find a book and a cd to take back and play with. The most
useful, brief thing I could tell him was that Linux is a kind of Unix, and
that therefore not only the small Linux selection was pertinent to his
query, but also the much larger Unix section. He had never heard of Unix.
Brett G. Castleberry
bcc9746@garnet.acns.fsu.edu
Tallahassee, Florida
----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Langille <dan.langille@dvl-software.com>
To: Herbert M Pollard <hpollard@jps.net>
Cc: <freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG>
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 1999 3:57 PM
Subject: Re: FreeBSD Newbies First Aid Kit
> On 13 Jun 99, at 9:10, Herbert M Pollard wrote:
>
> > It's great to learn
> > things on your own but people need help too and we need to feel that
there
> > is a place to go as a beginner and ask these questions, not get told go
> > read some rfc or something.
>
> There is such a place. It's called freebsd-questions. If you get told to
> read something and it doesn't help, ask again. Not everyone will give
> you the same answer.
>
> There are many resources. It is a large learning curve. It takes
> patience.
> --
> Dan Langille - DVL Software Limited
> The FreeBSD Diary - http://www.FreeBSDDiary.org/freebsd/
> NZ FreeBSD User Group - http://www.nzfug.nz.freebsd.org/
> The Racing System - http://www.racingsystem.com/racingsystem.htm
>
>
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